1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the roof triming of an automotive vehicle equipped with a sunroof and a passive seat belt and more particularly to a headlining arrangement of the kind wherein a headlining of a thin, flexible sheet material such as vinyl sheet or fabric is given a particular shape and held in a stretched state by means of a set of plural listing wires.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows a prior art headlining arrangement of the above described kind. In the drawing, designated by the reference numeral 10 is a sunroof or sliding roof frame arranged to lie beneath a vehicle roof 16 for receiving therein a sliding roof panel (not shown). To each lateral end or side of the sliding roof frame 10, a plurality of brackets 12, though only one is shown, are attached in a manner to project laterally outwardly therefrom. Though not shown, there are provided a plurality of second brackets which are secured to each roof side rail 14 in a manner to project laterally inwardly therefrom and to which the first-mentioned brackets 12 are connected for thereby stationarily supporting the sliding roof frame 10 relative to the vehicle roof 16. To each roof side rail inner 14a, a passive seat belt sliding rail 18 is secured together with a garnish 20 by means of bolt 22. A headlining 24 is secured at the peripheral part thereof to a vehicle body portion around the roof 16. For example, as shown in the drawing, the headlining 24 is in part placed at the peripheral part thereof between the roof side rail inner 14a and the passive seat belt sliding rail 18 and arranged to extend along the roof side rail inner 14a to be bonded or otherwise secured at the terminal end thereof to the roof side rail flange 14b. A welt 26 is fitted on the roof side rail flange 14b by interposing therebetween the headlining 24. Though only one is in part shown in the drawing, a set of plural listing wires 27 are provided to hang up the headlining 24 on the vehicle roof 16. By the listing wires 27, the headlining 24 is given a particular shape and held in a stretched state. Indicated by the reference numeral 28 is a roof insulator and by 30 is a limit switch for controlling the extent of movement of the sliding roof panel.
The above described prior art headlining arrangement is encountered by the drawback that the headlining 24 tends to be corrugated or wrinkled at portions adjacent the brackets 12 since with the prior art arrangement, the headlining 24 requires at the peripheral portions thereof to be placed between the roof side rail inner 14a and the passive seat belt sliding rail 18 and also to be spread over the space between the sliding roof frame 10 and the roof side rail 14 in two ways as shown by the solid lines and the phantom lines in the drawing depending upon whether the headlining 24 is associated with the bracket 12 or not. A deteriorated or coarse appearance of a passenger compartment therefore results.